Articles Tagged: conservation

New research from Iowa State University, that builds on research released last fall, finds that only 6.6 percent of cover crop users plant them consistently; nearly 30 percent are ‘intermittent adopters’.

Raptor Advocacy Rehabilitation & Education coordinator explains why they work with the birds, why eagles get lead poisoning and what to do if you find an injured bird.

In a snow-covered field north of Des Moines, Lee Tesdell’s sheep seem comfortable, grazing in a paddock of Kernza, a perennial grain cultivated by The Land Institute in Kansas.

Iowa researchers are looking to identify “hot spots” of vehicle-wildlife collisions and examining what steps could be taken to reduce them.

More than 34,000 licenses have been sold ahead of the first round of shotgun deer hunting season this weekend, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is projecting steady harvest numbers.

Maya Ogren’s lasting impact on environmental education continues to grow, nearly a decade after she poured her life’s final energy into launching the Iowa Master Naturalists program.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is seeking feedback on its 25-year wildlife action plan, which must be reviewed every 10 years per federal law.

Using a herd of specialists and generalists, one local couple has turned an old joke into a serious business. The concept, deployed by homeowners, businesses and municipalities in Iowa, is about stewardship that returns land to its natural state.

Bat Week is all about promoting the year-round benefits that the flying mammals provide to the ecosystem.

The Iowa skipper butterfly, once prevalent in prairies across the middle of the U.S., is now at risk of extinction — according to the Center for Food Safety, which has petitioned federal agencies to list the butterfly as an endangered species.

Featuring Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

A lifelong fascination with amphibians and care for wildlife ultimately led to Mary Beth Stevenson’s current job of restoring and preserving wetlands in the Cedar Rapids area.

The use of cover crops in Iowa has expanded significantly in recent years. The conservation practice is promoted by the state through cost share incentives — an effort by the Iowa Department of Agriculture to reduce nutrients that contribute to the Gulf dead zone. But new research suggests that while the number of acres being planted with cover crops has grown, not all farmers are sticking with the practice.

The Nature Conservancy has studied this form of virtual fencing with cattle at its preserve in Muscatine County for the past three years.

Photos from a seed harvesting outing with Johnson County Conservation at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon, Iowa on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.